What kinds of recommendations are found in NoveList?

NoveList provides three types of recommendations*:

Author to author (Author:Author)
Title to title (Title:Title)
Series to Series (Series:Series)

In NoveList, all of the information about an author, title, or series are gathered onto a Detail page where you’ll find up to nine read-alikes. In most instances, recommendations for titles and series will be at the same reading level as the title or series for which the recommendations are being made. Only fiction titles will be recommended for fiction titles and only nonfiction titles will be recommended for nonfiction titles.

In NoveList, you can also find read-alikes for Titles, Series, and Authors from your Result List. Links to the available read-alikes can be found at each Result List record.

*NoveList Plus also includes Audiobook to Audiobook recommendations.

How are the recommendations created in NoveList?

NoveList takes a multi-faceted approach to creating reading recommendations to ensure that readers will walk away with a book they’ll enjoy. Each recommendation includes the reason why the recommendation was made in order to help the reader decide whether it’s a good match for them.

Our experts evaluate and write recommendations, crafting them by hand. Along with their recommendation, they include an explanation as to why it is a good match, citing not only subjects, but appeal elements such as topic, characterization, tone, location, and writing style. The recommendations are then approved by a NoveList editor. Note that hand-crafted recommendations will include the name of the professional who wrote the recommendation.

We do as many of those hand-crafted recommendations as we possibly can, but we also have a very sophisticated algorithm that considers subjects, our signature appeal terms, and more to create additional recommendations. We have several teams that regularly evaluate and tweak the algorithm, with the goal of matching readers with their perfect books. So, even recommendations generated by the NoveList algorithm are based off the careful thought of our expert librarians.

Where and how can I find reading recommendations in NoveList?

Reading recommendations are available in several different locations – on the Homepage, from the Read-alike (or Listen-alike) links at each record of your Result List, and on Detail pages.

The recommendations on the Homepage will all be Title:Title recommendations for popular, current titles. With any search you perform, you will find links to available Read-alikes (or Listen-alikes) from each record at your Result List. In addition, a user can find recommendations along the right side of the Detail pages for author, series, titles, and audiobooks.

Basic information about the recommendation is provided for each suggestion. On an Author Detail page, the recommendations appear as a list of author names. On the Title, Series, and Audiobook Detail pages, the recommendations appear as a jacket image, with the title and the author name. All recommendations at the Detail pages are hyperlinked to their full records.

Each of these recommendations also has a hover-over that provides more detailed information. For authors, this includes an author description and statement about why the author is being recommended. For titles, additional information includes audience level, fiction/nonfiction, publication date, book summary, and the reason why the title is suggested. Additional series information includes audience level, fiction/nonfiction, series summary, and why a reader might enjoy the recommended series.

At your Result List, you will find links to read-alikes from each Title, Author, Series, or Audiobook record. Each link will open the list of the read-alikes, along with information about why a reader might be interested in the recommendation, in a printer-friendly format.

Can I print the recommendations that NoveList provides?

To the right of the Detail page, NoveList offers recommendations in the Read-alikes (or Listen-alikes) section. These recommendations can be printed for a reader by selecting the “View All” link at the top of this section. The nicely-formatted printout includes a list of all of the recommendations, including the reasoning behind the recommendation. You can also access the same printout using the "Read-alike" links from each record at the Result List.

How can I share my thoughts and feedback about NoveList's recommendations?

Although many of our recommendations are hand-crafted, we also have some that are auto-generated and sometimes aren’t as precise as those created by our staff. When you hover over Read-alike (or Listen-alike) from the Detail page or when you select a Read-alike (or Listen-alike) link from the Result List, you will see “Thumbs Up" and "Thumbs Down” graphics. Click on either icon to let us know what you think about the specific recommendation. We encourage you to share why you agree or disagree with the recommendation. This is important to us as we determine how best to incorporate your feedback into NoveList. We can better incorporate your feedback into our recommendations if you are precise with your reasoning.